Ejector mechanism for breech-loading guns.



EJBTR MECHANISM FOR BREBCH LGADING'GUNSI.

" APPLIOATION`FILED 11110.22, 1904.

UNITED STATES 'a'rnu'r ommen.

GEORGE W'. ROY, OF SYRAOUSE, NEW YORK.

EJECTOR NIECHANISIVI FOR BREECH-LOADING GUNS.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1905.

Application flied December 22, 1904. Serial No. 237,976.

State of New York, have invented new andv useful Improvements in Ejector Mechanism for Breech-Loading Guns, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in breech-loading guns, and refers more particularly to the ejector mechanism and its coacting parts. whereby the fired cartridges are forcibly ejected fromv the barrels.

In this class of guns the barrels and frame are detachably hinged to each other, so that the fore-end piece and front end of the frame have a sliding rocking engagement one with the other as the gun is opened and closed, and I provide a separate ejector mechanism for each barrel, the operation of which is controlled by the firing of its corresponding hammer, so that when one or the other of the hammers is lired the corresponding ejector mechanism is brought into action by the breaking of the gun to expel the discharged cartridge. This breaking of the gun also brings into action certain mechanism to cock the main hammer against the action of the comparatively stiff spring, and therefore more or less resistance is offered to the opening or breaking of the gun, such resistance depending largely upon the stidness of the hammersprings. It is therefore desirable to keep this resistance within certain limits in order to render the opening and closing of the gun comparatively easy and with as little friction as possible, and one of my main objects is to reduce the additional resistance whichis necessarily introduced by the compression of the spring, which actuates the ejector-hammer f during the opening or breaking of the gun.

This object, more specifically stated, is to cause the compression of the ejector-hammer spring by a variable leverage, which gradually increases with the compression of the spring, so that the load or resistance due to the gradual compression of the ejector-hammer spring is compensated or equalized by the changing leverage by which the spring is compressed.

Another object is to pivot the ejector-hammer to an oscillatory bar, whereby the toggle or exing joint is established between the bar and ejector-hammer, which joint is actuated mechanically to planes above and beneath the plane of the ejector-hammer pivot and is forced to such positions by a coiled compression-spring encircling the oscillatory bar and acting to force the ejector-hammer either to its normal position or to its operative position for forcibly operating, the extractor-bar to eject the shell from the barrel.

A still further object is to provide the frame of the gun with sliding sears, one for each ejector mechanism, which sears are brought into operative position to operate their respective ejector mechanisms by the firing of their respective hammers.

Another object is to provide each sliding sear with a spring-actuated lever whereby the sliding sears are returned to their normal or inoperative position when the hammers are cocked.

Another object is to arrange the parts of each ejector mechanism so that when the gun is closed the tension on the ejector-hammer springs is relieved and is only brought to its greatest degree of tension during the breaking of the gun.

-Other objects and purposes will appear in the following description.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of my improved ejector mechanism, showing the barrels and frame of a gun in dotted lines and also showing the main hammers and their controlling-springs and sears, the gun being shown in this figure as closed andthe ejector mechanism in its normal position, except that one of the main hammers is fired and its corresponding sliding scar is in position for operating the ejector mechanism when the gun is broken. Fig.` 2 is an elevation of the same parts, showing the gunas partly broken just before the ejector mechanism is brought into action, the extractor-bar being shown as positively drawn out a limited distance by the lug on the front end of the frame. Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly in section, similar to Fig. 2, except that the gun is still further opened and the ejector mechanism is shown in its operative position for forcibly ejecting the cartridge from the barrel. Fig. Lis an inverted plan, partly in section, of the parts shown in full lines in the position seen in Fig. 1, the gun barrels and frame being omitted.

In carrying out the objects of my invention I provide the frame l of the gun with suitable main hammers 2, mainsprings 3, and sears I for controlling the action of the hammersQ, the sears 4 being actuated by suitable springs 5. The hammers 2 are each provided with an IOO IIO

elongated slot 6, which receives a pivotal pin 7, the object of the elongated slot being to permit the hammer to move rearwardly a limited distance to permit the barrel and frame to be separated one from the other or reassembled when desired, this limited movement being necessitated by the particular cocking mechanism, which will be presently described. The cocking mechanism for each hammer preferably consists of an arm 8 and a bearing 9 on the lug of the barrels 11, the arm 8 forming a forward projection of and is integral with its corresponding hammer 2. The free end of the hammer-arm 8 normally lies over and against the bearing 9, so that in breaking the gun this free end of the arm 8 is forced upwardly by the bearing 9, thereby cocking the hammer, which is held in its cocked positionby the sear 4. The bearing 9 is in the form of a rounding bead or shoulder, and therefore has upper and lower cam-faces, and

y when it is desired to remove the barrels from the frame the fore end, as l2, is withdrawn in the usual manner, whereupon the barrels and frame may be rocked one upon the other, during which action the bearing 9 rides upon the front end of the arm 8 and forces the hammer rearwardly until the bearing 9 is free from engagement with the arm 8, the slot 6 permitting such rearward movement of the hammer. In like manner when the gun is closed this bearing 9 engages the front extremity of the arm 8 and forces the hammer rearwardly until the bearing9 rides upon the free end of the arm 8, whereupon the gun may be easily closed and the fore end piece l2 restored to its operative position to lock the barrels and gun-frame together upon the hinge-pin.

Each of the hammers 2 is provided with a cam-face 13 in front of its pivot 7 and terminating at its upper end in a tooth or eccentric bearing 14, which is farther from the pivot 7 than the remaining portions of the cam-face 13 and is so positioned that when the hammer is released or fired the cam-tooth 14 engages the adjacent end of a sliding sear 15, which is fitted in a lengthwise bore or guideway in the front end of the frame 1. This sliding sear 15 extends from the cam-face 13 to the front end of the frame 1 and close to the adjacent face of the fore-end piece 12 and has at its forward end an engaging tooth 16, which when the hammer is ljred is forced forwardly beyond the contiguous faces of the front end of the frame 1 and fore-end piece 12 into position to operate the ejector mechanism when the gun is broken; but when the hammer is in its cocked position, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, this sliding sear 15 is forced rearwardly to its normal position by means of a spring 17 and lever 18, the spring 17 being mounted in a suitable socket in the frame 1, while the lever l18 is pivoted at its upper end at 19 and has its intermediate portion engaged with the front and rear walls of a recess 2O in one side of the sliding sear 15, whereby when the sear 15 is forced forwardly by the cam-tooth 14 the lower end of the lever 18 is also carried forwardly against the action of the spring 17; but as soon as the hammer is cocked and the tooth 16 of the sear 15 is released from the ejector mechanism, presently described, the spring 17 acts upon the lever 20 to return the sear 15 to its normal position, with its rear end close to or engaged with the cam-face 14 of the hammer 2.

It will be observed that I have described only one of the main hammers 2 and its corresponding sliding sear 15; but it will be understood that a similar mechanism as just described is provided for each hammer.

Each of the barrels 11 is provided with a separate extractor-bar consisting of a head 21 and lengthwise stem 22, which are guided in separate lengthwise openings at the bottom and between the two barrels, and these extractor-bars are limited in their lengthwise movement by a suitable stop, as a screw 23, which is mounted in the lower side of the barrel body and enters suitable recesses 24 in the adjacent faces of the stems 22, as best seen in Fig. 4, the front and rear ends of the recesses forming stop-shoulders which engage the stop 23, thereby limiting the forward and rearward movement of the extractor-bars.

A lug 25 (shown by dotted lines in Figs. l, 2, and 3) is provided on the front end of the frame 1 and projects into recesses 26 in the adjacent faces of the front ends of the extractor bars or stems 22, which are located so that when the gun is broken the lug 25 engages the rear ends of the recesses 26, and thereby positively moves the extractor-bars rearwardly a limited distance, so as to loosen the cartridges from the barrels and permit the loaded cartridges to be withdrawn by hand, if desired.

A pair of ejector-hammers 27 are pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon a single pivotal pin 28, which is passed through suitable lugs 29 in the fore-end piece 12 below the rear ends of the extractor bars or stems 22, while the upper end of said hammers are registered with the forward en ds of the respective extractor-bars, so that when the free end of the ejector-hammer is released it is forced into engagement with its corresponding ex-- tractor-bar, thereby moving said extractorbar rearwardly and forcibly ejecting the cartridge engaged by the head of said extractorbar. Each of the ejector-hammers 27 is provided with a laterally-projecting pin orshoulder 30, which is located at one side, preferably in front of the pivot 28, and to each shoulder 30 is pivoted the rear end of the oscillatory arm 31, having its rear end guided in suit- IOO able openings in a fixed abutment 32, projecting downwardly from the fore-end piece 12. It now appears that each of the ejector-hammers is provided with a separate arm 31, which,

as seen in Fig. 2, the lug 25 engages and together with its hammer, forms a toggle havmoves the extractor-bars rearwardly a limited ing a iiexing joint at the pin 30. Surrounding each of the arms 31 is a coiled compression-spring 33, having one end abutting against a shoulder 34 on the rear end of the arm 31 and its other end abutting against the abutment 32, so that the expansion or tension of the spring is .forwardly toward the pivot 28 of the ejector-hammer 27. The abutment 32 is located in front of the ejector-hammers 27, and pivoted to the lower end of said abutment at 34 are two oscillatory arms or levers 35, one for each ejector. These levers extend forwardly from their pivots 3# into apertures 35 in the rear ends of the fore-end piece 12, and their rear ends are preferably bifureated to form lower and upper arms 36 and 37, the lower arm 36 normally resting upon a shoulder 38 at the bottom of the recess 35, while the upper arm 37 is in the form of a tooth which is adapted to interlock with or to be engaged by the tooth 16 of the sliding sear 15 when the latter is forced forwardly by the firing of the hammer. These levers 35 extend under. their respective pins 30 of the ejectorhammers 27, as best seen lin Fig. 1, and therefore when the rear ends of the levers 35 are resting upon their respective shoulders 38 the pins 30 are engaged with the upper edges of the levers 35,which form limiting-stops to prevent the further downward movement of the ejector-hammers by the action of their respective springs 33.

The springs 33 and pins 30 are so arranged with respect to the hammer-pivots 28 that when the gun is closed, as seen in Fig. 1, the line of tension acting upon the ejector-hammers is below the pivot 28, and were it not for the fact that the pins 30 rest upon the upper edges of the levers 35 and that the rear ends of these levers in turn rest upon the shoulders 38 the ejector-hammers would be forced still further downward and forward upon their respective pivots 28; but since this downward movement is limited by the levers 35 it is evident that the springs 33 operate to hold the pins 30 in engagement with their respective levers 35 until the pivotal pins are brought to a position slightly above the pivotal pins 28 by the breaking of the gun, as best seen in Fig. 3, whereupon the springs suddenly extend and operate their respective hammers to strike the forward ends of the extractor-bars and forcibly eject the discharged cartridge or cartridges.

1n the operation of my invention, assuming that the gun is closed and that one of the hammers is fired, as seen inFig. 1, whereby the corresponding sliding sear 15 is forced forwardly until its tooth 16 enters the bifurcated end of the corresponding lever 35 on the ejector mechanism and is in position to engage the shoulder 37 when the gun is broken, it is now evident that when the gun is broken,

`action of the spring' 33.

distance, thereby loosening the shells from the barrels, and at the same time the forward end of the sliding sear 15 of the hammer which has been tired engages the shoulder 37 of the corresponding lever 35 and elevates this end of the lever against the pin 30 of the corresponding ejector-hammer 27, thereby also elevating the free end of said hammer until the pin 30 is moved toa position slightly above the pivot 28, whereupon the spring 33 suddenly extends and forces the hammer 27 against the forward end of the extractor-bar, thereby forcibly ejecting the discharged cartridge, the operating position of the ejector mechanism being best seen in Fig. 3. During this operation of breaking the gun the tired hammer 2 is cocked by the engagement of the bearing 9 with the hammer-arm 8.

In returning the gun to its closed position the head 21 bears upon the breech-face, as 40, of the frame of the gun, thereby forcing the extractor-bar forwardly and at the same time returning' the ejector-hammer 27 and its operating parts to their normal positions, as seen in Fig. 1, the sliding sear 15 being also returned to its normal position by the spring 17 and lever 18, this latter operation of the sear taking place as soon as the ejector-hammer is forced to its operative position, as seen in Fig. 3, thereby relieving the binding force upon the front end of the sear 15 due to the It is now apparent that during the breaking' of the gun and cocking of the lever 2 as long as the pin 30 is forced against the lever 35 by the spring 33 the shoulder 37 is held firmly in engagement with the shoulder 16 of the sliding sear 15, thereby holding said sear from returning to its normal inoperative position until after the main hammer is cocked and the ejectorhammer is forced to its operative position; but as soon as the pressure of the spring is removed fromthe lever 35 the pressure upon the sliding' sear 15 is relieved and the spring 17 immediately acts to return said sear to its normal position, as seen in Fig. 3.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is"

1. An ejector mechanism for breech-loading guns comprising' an extractor-bar, a pivoted ejector-hammer, a spring having one end carvried by the hammer and tensioned toward the pivot, the line of tension of the spring being movable with the hammer from a point below to a point above the hammer-pivot whereby the ejector-hammer is held in its inoperative, or forced to its operative position, a lever having sliding engagement with the hammer, in combination with a main hammer and means brought into position by the firing of said main hammer to engage and operate the lever when the gun is broken.

2. In a breech-loading gun, the combination with a main hammer, extractor-bar and a pivoted ejector-hammer, of aspring normally connected and operating on the ejector-hammer below its pivot and movable with said ejector to change its line of action to a position above the pivot, a lever having sliding engagement with the ejector-hammer Vto move it from its normal position and means brought into position by the ring of the main hammer to engage and operate the lever when the gun is broken. i

8. An ejector mechanism for breech-loading guns, comprising an extractor-bar, a pivoted ejector-hammer at the front end ot' the extractor-bar, an abutment in front of the hammei-a coil compression-spring between the abutment and hammer, and having one end carried by the hammer, and a lever having sliding connection with the hammer to rock the latter, in combination with a main hammer, and means brought into position by the firing of the main hammer to engage and operate the lever when the gun is broken.

4. In abreech-loading gun, the combination with a main hammer, an extractor-bar and a pivoted ejector-hammer, of a spring normally acting on the ejector-hammer at one side of its pivot to hold said ejector-hammer in its normal position, a lever connected and operating on the ejector-hammer to move it from its normal position toward its operative position, said spring having one end carried-by and moving with the ejector-hammer wherebyT the line of action of the spring is thrown to the opposite side oi' the ejector-hammer pivot to force said ejector-hamn'icr to itsoperative position independently oi' the lever and a sliding sear brought into position by the liring of the main hammer to engage and operate the lever when the gun is broken.

5. In a breech-loading gun, the combination with a main hammer, extractor-bar and ejector-hammer, of an abutment in front of the ejector-hammer, a sliding oscillatory bar having one end guided in the abutment and its other end pivoted to the ejector-hammer, a coil-spring encircling the oscillatory bar and compressed between the ejector-hammer and abutment. a pin on the ejector-hammer, a lever engaging the pin, and means brought into position by the tiring of the main hammer to engage and rock the lever against lthe pin when the gun is broken for the purpose of rocking the hammer from its normal position, said spring operating to force the hammer against the extractor-bar to operate the latter independently of the lever.

6. An ejector mechanism for breech-loading guns comprising an extractor-bar, a pivoted guns comprising an extractor-bar, a pivoted ejector-hammer, a spring acting on the hammer below its pivot to throw said hammer forwardly, said spring being movable with the hammer to bring the line of tension of the spring above the hammer-pivot, in combination with a main hammer, a sliding bar actuated by the main hammer when red, and means actuated by the front end of the sliding bar when the gun is broken to move the ejector-hammer and its operating-spring so as to change the line of tension of the spring from below to a line above the ejector-hammer pivot.

8. An ejector mechanism for breech-loading guns comprising an extractor-bar, a pivoted ejector-hammer and a sliding oscillatory bar pivoted together to form a toggle, an abutment, a coil-spring on the oscillatory bar compressed between the abutment and togglejoint and operating to hold the ejector-hammer in its normal position, and a lever operating to Hex said joint to throw the tension of the spring above the pivot of the ejector-hammer, in combination with a main hammer, and a sliding sear brought into position by the firing ot' the main hammer to engage and rock the lever when the gun is broken.

. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of December, 1904.

GEORGE l/V. ROY. VV'itnesses:

H. E. CHASE, MILDRED M. No'r'r.

IOO 

